Ex-Vallejo couple's alleged meth-fueled murder plot told in court

A former Vallejo woman's ex-boyfriend testified Tuesday the drug-using couple casually agreed to kill two unsuspecting victims during a 2007 methamphetamine bender.

In less than 24 hours, two women -- both strangers to heavy meth addicts Mario Moreno and Paige Linville -- had been shot to death in Cordelia and Dixon.

"I asked Paige if she ever thought about killing anybody," Moreno said. "She said 'yes.' I asked her if she wanted to kill that lady? She said 'yes.'"

Moreno, 32, was referring to 34-year-old Amber Lee Chappell, a Vallejo transient and also a meth user.

Linville's defense attorney, however, is building an argument that Moreno was responsible for both slayings, and that a traumatized Linville -- who may or may not have pulled the trigger -- was under his power throughout the ordeal.

Questioned by Solano County Deputy District Attorney Krishna Abrams, a shackled Moreno said he and Linville had dropped off dope to a friend's wife in a Broadway Street shopping center about 2 a.m. on Nov. 16, 2007.

Chappell had approached their car and asked if they had any dope to sell. After a brief discussion, Moreno said he and Linville drove back and picked her up, "to kill her."

Moreno said Chappell seemed like an "easy target."

"She had already asked to come along with us," he explained.

Linville, 29, and Moreno were arrested in December 2007, and Linville pleaded no contest to charges of being an accessory after the fact as well as possession of methamphetamine.

Moreno, meanwhile, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

However, things changed in April 2010, when Linville -- who had been released from prison -- was re-arrested and charged with two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.

Moreno, who has two prior felony convictions, agreed to plead guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter in exchange for testifying against Linville. The deal will allow him to avoid a life sentence; he's likely to face a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Dressed conservatively, with her hair pulled back, Linville cried at times as Moreno detailed the killings.

Moreno, whose voice trembled at times, testified that they picked up Chappell and drove around for some time, possibly "one or two hours," and wound up on rural Ramsey Road, in the Cordelia area, off Interstate 680. He said Chappell had been touching his shoulder and "it was getting on my nerves."

After turning onto secluded Ramsey Road from Lake Herman Road, "I decided this is as likely a spot as any," Moreno said.

Further questioned by Abrams, Moreno said Linville pulled Chappell out of the car. He then stepped around the front of the car and emptied his .380 semi-automatic handgun into the unsuspecting victim at close range.

Moreno said he and Linville later stopped to clean up Linville's Infiniti sports utility vehicle and went to a sporting goods store in Vallejo to buy more ammunition and paper targets. From there, he said they drove to Moreno's uncle's property in rural Dixon for some target practice.

On the way there, he said he and Linville took turns shooting at stop signs.

At one point, he said Linville told him she wanted to shoot someone.

"She said, 'Aren't you worried I'm going to tell on you?'" Moreno said. "I said 'Not really.' Then Paige said, "I think I should shoot someone too so that you won't have to worry about it.'"

Moreno said they then drove into Dixon.

"We saw a lady at a bus stop. Paige said 'I'll shoot that lady right there.'" They continued down the street, he said, smoked some more meth, exited the Infiniti and taped over their rear license plate. After Linville, who has dark hair, donned a dirty-blond wig, he said they drove back down Valley Glen Drive to the bus stop -- but by that time the lady was gone.

A short time later, they saw a second woman -- 41-year-old Christine Baxley of Dixon -- walking her dog.

Moreno said Linville decided she was going to kill her. So he stopped the car, gave Linville the gun and waited as she hesitated, then left the car and began shooting.

Baxley, a single mother on her lunch break from her job at the Dixon Tribune, died in the hail of bullets.

The couple returned to Vallejo, but not before stopping at a mini mart to buy drinks and snacks. Moreno then dropped Linville off at her parents' veterinary business on Benicia Road, where police say she searched the Internet for information about the homicides.

Linville's attorney Amy Morton, however, noted discrepancies in Moreno's testimony and raised questions about his character. In 2001, Moreno was convicted of three counts of arson and served a five-year, eight-month prison sentence.

In 2006, he was convicted of grand theft.

Initially, Moreno told investigators Linville had killed both victims. Later, after Linville pleaded no contest in 2008, he wrote to her parents demanding money for his silence about her involvement in the double murder.

Linville's parents never paid.

In a follow-up letter of apology, he told her parents that most of the developing case "stems from a jealous ex-girlfriend who is jealous of Paige and wove a tangled web of lies to the police."

The trial is set to resume today in Solano Superior Court Judge Allan Carter's Vallejo courtroom.